Archives for October 8, 2001

The Sabres opened up the regular season this week with one win, one loss and one overtime loss. This isn't the kind of start I would have liked, but I'm not too worried yet. There have been flashes of great play along with a lot of "duh" plays. If this continues after October, then I will worry.

'TMR (http://www.teammarketing.com) calculates the Sabres to have the 24th-highest ticket prices among the 30 NHL teams and about $7 per seat below the average ticket price, $49.86, up 4.5 percent from last season.'

'Leetch's younger brother, Eric, arrived in the United States yesterday morning from the Middle East, where he is serving as an Army captain in the Green Berets.The younger Leetch is scheduled to be married in two weeks. And the Ranger defenseman was especially relieved to know that his brother had gotten home.'

'"It was just a great night for everybody in the building," Rangers captain Mark Messier would say at the end of an evening he had begun by personally dedicating this Rangers season to the New York City. "And of course, it couldn't be more fitting than for Brian to get the winner."'

'It was up to the quiet Ranger, Brian Leetch, to create the most noise. With Leetch flooding the right wing with Petr Nedved in overtime, his slapshot, which normally wouldn't leave a dent in a styrofoam wall, bounced into the net off Essensa's right shoulder for a 5-4 overtime win.'

'The Rangers wore their road blue sweaters rather than their home whites. What's more, the traditional R-A-N-G-E-R-S running diagonally down the front was replaced by N-E-W Y-O-R-K. And when the visiting Sabres hit the ice, their buffalo head logos were replaced by the same diagonal New York.'